The present invention relates generally to recording media library apparatus, and more particularly to a recording media library apparatus for storing and handling or processing at least recording media of a double-side recording type which, without sacrificing or lowering the processing efficiency and speed, is capable of inverting a designated double-side recording type medium so as to be oriented in a predetermined direction where it can be driven by a drive unit.
DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) library apparatus have been known extensively today, which store and drive (read/write) DVDs and perform other necessary processing on the DVDs. The DVD library apparatus, in general, include a magazine for storing a multiplicity of DVDs in storage cells thereof, a drive unit for driving (reading/writing) a desired or designated DVD, and a transport mechanism (also called a xe2x80x9chandling mechanismxe2x80x9d) for transporting a designated DVD between the magazine, the drive unit etc. Typically, the DVD library apparatus include a plurality of (e.g., six) magazines removably installed therein, each of which is capable of storing a multiplicity of DVDs. When a DVD stored in a particular storage cell of one of the magazines is to be driven by the drive unit, a carrying holder, usually in a box-like shape, of the transport mechanism is first moved to a position where it faces the particular storage cell, and then pulls the DVD out of the particular storage cell until the DVD is held in place within the holder. Then, the carrying holder is moved, along with the DVD held therein, to a position where it faces the drive unit, and inserts the DVD into the drive unit for necessary driving.
Although the drive unit can always drive only one predetermined surface (lower or upper surface) of each DVD, the DVDs marketed today are of not only a single-side recording type but also a double-side recording type such as DVD-RAMs. For this reason, in such DVD library apparatus mixedly storing and handling the DVDs of both the single-side recording type and the double-side recording type (hereinafter also called xe2x80x9csingle-side recording type DVDsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdouble-side recording type DVDsxe2x80x9d, respectively), there sometimes arises a need for inverting or turning the double-side recording type DVD upside down (or inside out) so as to be oriented in a predetermined direction corresponding to the driving direction of the drive unit. Thus, in some of the conventionally-known DVD library apparatus, the transport mechanism includes an inversion unit for inverting the double-side recording type DVD so as to be oriented in the predetermined driving direction (i.e., so as to correspond to the driving direction of the drive unit), as typically disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. HEI-8-249782.
However, these conventional DVD library apparatus including the inversion unit in the transport mechanism is very disadvantageous in that the transport mechanism can not perform its primary operation, i.e., DVD transport operation, during the inversion of the DVD by the inversion unit, which would significantly lower the DVD transporting efficiency and hence the processing capability or performance of the entire library apparatus.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a recording media library apparatus which, without lowering its processing performance, can invert a recording medium of the double-side recording type so as to correspond to a predetermined driving direction of a drive unit.
To accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a recording media library apparatus which is capable of storing and processing at least recording media of the double-side recording type and which comprises: a plurality of storage units, removably installed in a plurality of predetermined installing areas within the recording media library apparatus, for storing a multiplicity of the recording media; a drive unit for driving a desired one of the recording media in a predetermined driving direction; a transport mechanism for transporting a desired one of the recording media between one of the storage units and the drive unit; and an inversion unit, installed in any one of the plurality of predetermined installing areas. When a desired recording media of the double-side recording type is to be driven at a particular surface thereof, the inversion unit inverts the recording medium of the double-side recording type to correspond to the predetermined driving direction of the drive unit.
In the recording media library apparatus of the present invention, the inversion unit for inverting a desired or designated recording medium of the double-side recording type is installed in any one of the plurality of predetermined installing areas separate from the transport mechanism. Because the inversion unit in the present invention is provided separately from the transport mechanism, the inversion of one recording medium by the inversion unit and the transport of another recording medium by the transport mechanism can be effected concurrently in a parallel fashion, which can greatly enhance the processing speed and hence the processing performance of the library apparatus. Particularly, in the present invention, the transport mechanism itself does not perform the function of inverting the recording medium and thus does not have to halt or wait its medium transporting operation due to the medium inversion as in the prior art apparatus, so that the transport mechanism can perform the medium transporting operation with greatly increased efficiency.
Most preferably, the recording media library apparatus of the present invention is capable of mixedly storing recording media of both the single-side recording type and the double-side recording type, and the inversion unit can be removably installed in any selected one of the installing areas. Thus, the installed position of the inversion unit relative to the drive unit can be varied as desired depending on a frequency of necessity of inverting the double-side recording type media. That is, if the frequency of necessity of inverting the recording media is high, then the inversion unit may be provided in one of the installing areas which is closest to the drive unit so that each recording medium inverted by the inversion unit can be carried to the drive unit with a minimum travel distance after having been passed from the inversion unit to the transport mechanism. Further, a plurality of such inversion units can be provided where the frequency of necessity of inverting the recording media is extremely high. The provision of two or more inversion units can even further enhance the processing speed and performance.
Each of the storage units may be a portable magazine-type unit. The recording media may be DVDs which are bare or contained in a case.